tried to respond to its rhythm. His mouth suckled hers and, though her lips parted, his lips continued to knead into hers. His tongue caressed her lips rather than slip between them and the warmth of the moist breath from his nostrils spilled over her chin.
The moment seemed suspended in time and Jesse no longer sensed their surroundings, the glyphs, or even her own body. Instead, his kiss had become her world. Delicate and tender, achingly slow, she hung on each new sensation.
• • • • •
Brett could not believe the incredible sensation in his mouth. Though he had thought of Jesse as sweet, he hadn’t realized she tasted that way as well–not until this moment. The fragrant scent of her skin mixed with the faint but clear taste of sweet wine. As though he fed from her mouth, he lightly sucked her lips and savored each tantalizing taste.
Like her strange and hidden talent, Jesse was one surprise after another. Each layer that he removed only revealed another beneath: her secret beauty, her utter vulnerability, and now this. Was it any wonder he couldn’t get enough?
Beautiful and swollen, her lips were an irresistible invitation. The flesh gave easily under his tongue and the silken swell of them, held gently in his mouth, was like a drug. She kissed him back, opened her mouth to him, but he could not let this moment end. Though he longed to plunge inside her, claim her mouth and body yet again, the delicate cling of her lips mesmerized him. His lips clung to hers, seemed magnetically drawn to them, and were completely unwilling to leave them.
Slowly, his hand left the nape of her neck and circled around her lower back. Her body bent to his as he curved over her, though his mouth continued to explore hers. He leaned even lower as her back arched to accommodate him and, as her hands slipped from his waist, he held her completely in his arms. Her limp form rested easily in his grasp and still he drank from her mouth, her parted lips pulsing with a sensual rhythm that matched his. He held her to him as he let her head loll backward, almost touching the pillow beneath it. Her lips softly slid along his and he suckled them for a last, sweet taste of wine. Then he let them lightly tug away as he slowly laid her down.
A deep sigh whispered shallowly from her lungs and, though her eyes remained closed, her eyebrows furrowed ever so slightly.
“Sleep,” Brett whispered as he settled down on his side.
Her face cleared and a tiny smile curved her soft, pink lips, and in moments she was asleep. With his head propped up on his hand, he watched her. Wonder and longing and sheer happiness mixed in his chest and realization suddenly dawned on him–he was in love. As he lay his head down and closed his eyes, he smiled.
• • • • •
Jesse woke with a start. She’d been dreaming.
“What is it?” Brett murmured from behind her in the dark.
As she lay on her side, she felt his arm around her middle draw her closer. Then he brought his knees up behind her knees.
She relaxed.
“A dream,” she said, quietly.
She realized that the tent was incredibly quiet. The rain had stopped.
“Good or bad,” he said, nuzzling into her neck.
“Bad,” she said and he stopped moving. “The Blood Gatherer.”
“That’s tomorrow,” he whispered. “We’ll find the Red King tomorrow.”
Though she couldn’t see him, she pictured him smiling at the thought.
“The Blood Gatherer is waiting for us, Brett. I feel it.”
“I’m counting on it,” he said. “Now sleep.”
He sounded sleepy and though she knew she ought to do exactly that, she knew she probably wouldn’t. Somehow the glyphs held the answer to the last test. The stela had already warned them.
“Those who do not understand, die.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
As they made their way across the plaza, Brett was already publishing the find of the century in his mind. In his right hand, he carried the blue jade stone, though he’d tagged and bagged it. In his left he held the lantern. The jade stone would be the featured photo for the article.
The department would have no choice but to promote him to full professor and tenure would shortly follow. Jesse was striding along beside him, also holding a lantern. Maybe they could publish together–of course. Why not? She does all the translation. It’d be quite a coup for a student to publish, especially–
He almost tripped